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Mandatory broadcaster fees go before high court

Thirty complaints have been launched against the mandatory monthly fee of €17.50 German residents must pay for public television and radio broadcasters.

Mandatory broadcaster fees go before high court
Photo: DPA.

It's one of the biggest complaints expats have upon moving to Germany – the €17.50 monthly fee for public TV and radio broadcasters, which since 2013 must be paid by every household, whether or not they have a television or radio.

Now, the Rundfunkbeitrag (broadcasting contribution) faces a decision by the Federal Administrative Court in Leipzig.

The broadcasters Westdeutsche Rundfunk (WDR) and Bayerische Rundfunk are specifically named in the suits.

The first 14 complaints will be heard on Wednesday and Thursday, arguing that the contribution model is unfair and unconstitutional.

Broadcasters, though, argue that the fee is justified because most people have computers, smartphones and other devices that can play their content. 

The fee amounted to roughly €8.3 billion in the pockets of the broadcasters in 2014, according to Die Zeit.

A decision by the court is expected on Friday, but eight more suits will be heard in June and another four at the end of the year. These last few cases are specifically about whether businesses should have to pay the fees.

If the Leipzig court decides that the broadcasting fees are not constitutional, the case would have to go to the Constitutional Court for its interpretation. Likewise, if the administrative court rules in favour of the broadcasters, the complainants could still appeal the case to the Constitutional Court.

“But that is of course in the end the clients' decision,” said a lawyer for several private plaintiffs.

Before the 2013 reform, the broadcaster fee was collected depending on how many devices, such as TVs and radios, each household had. Inspectors would come door-to-door to check on the number, but some people would hide electronics or avoid answering the door.

A survey at the end of last month by opinion research firm INSA and magazine Focus showed that 70 percent of respondents said they no longer wanted to pay the fees.

In 2014, 330,000 people signed a petition against it

The collection service for the public broadcasters, often referred to by its former name GEZ, typically finds residents when they register their addresses at municipal offices like the Bürgeramt.
 
Germans and immigrants alike receive letters from the collectors shortly after moving house. There are a number of organized campaigns to boycott the payment, despite threats from the collectors of imposing late fees.

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Beskæftigelsesfradraget: What is Denmark’s employment allowance?

Denmark's government may soon announce changes to its tax reform plans, which will give all wage earners a bigger employment allowance. What is this and how will it affect foreigners' earnings?

Beskæftigelsesfradraget: What is Denmark's employment allowance?

What is the employment allowance? 

The Beskæftigelsesfradraget (from beskæftigelse, meaning employment, and fradrag, meaning rebate) was brought in by the centre-right Liberal Party back in 2004, the idea being that it would incentivise people to get off welfare and into a job.

Everyone whose employer pays Denmark’s 8 percent AM-bidrag, or arbejdsmarkedsbidrag, automatically receives beskæftigelsesfradraget. Unlike with some of Denmark’s tax rebates, there is no need to apply. The Danish Tax Agency simply exempts the first portion of your earnings from income taxes. 

In 2022, beskæftigelsesfradraget was set at 10.65 percent of income with a maximum rebate of 44,800 kroner. 

How did the government agree to change the employment allowance in its coalition deal? 

In Responsibility for Denmark, the coalition agreement between the Social Democrats, the Liberals and the Moderate Party, the new government said it would set aside 5 billion kroner for tax reforms.

Of this, 4 billion kroner was earmarked for increasing the employment allowance, with a further 0.3 billion going towards increasing an additional employment allowance for single parents.

According to the public broadcaster DR, the expectation was that this would increase the standard employment  allowance to 12.75 percent up to a maximum rebate of 53,600 kroner. 

How might this be further increased, according to Børsen? 

According to a report in the Børsen newspaper, the government now plans to set aside a further 1.75 billion kroner for tax reforms, of which nearly half — about 800 million kroner — will go towards a further increase to the employment allowance. 

The Danish Chamber of Commerce earlier this month released an analysis in which it argued that by raising removing all limits on the rebate for single parents and raising the maximum rebate for everone else by 20,300 kroner, the government could increase the labour supply by 4,850 people, more than double the 1,500 envisaged in the government agreement. 

According to the Børsen, the government estimates that its new extended allowance will increase the labour supply by 5,150 people.  

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